Courtesy photograph The Lodi Extreme softball team celebrates after defeating Kentucky's Prairie Village 2-0 in the championship game of the Babe Ruth 16U World Series in Pittsfield, Mass. on Friday. The win gave the team its first national championship.

Extreme bringing national title back to Lodi

As the ball smacked into the web of Jerika Senecal's glove the Lodi Extreme softball team instantly earned a new title — Babe Ruth 16U World Series Champions.

The highlight-reel catch recorded the final out of Lodi's 2-0 victory over Prairie Village (Ky.) in the title game of the week-long tournament in Pittsfield, Mass. and capped off the Extreme's perfect 7-0 record for its first-ever national championship.

After Senecal's grab, the Extreme players jetted toward center field to dog pile her.

"Oh my gosh my heart stopped," Lodi's Kelsey McCarty said of the magical moment. "That (Prairie Village) girl hit a bomb and Jerika just turned and ended up catching it. It was amazing. I was like 'Oh my gosh, that's the third out.' For a lot of us, this is our last chance to play for this team and it is so amazing. I am still in shock."

The Extreme was nearly untouchable in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 29-4 in seven games and turning the team's third-place finishes in 2006 and '07 into ancient history.

"You can only dream about this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Lodi manager Dave Pfennig said. "Like I told the girls, I just feel thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it. These are great girls and they have been a pleasure to coach."

In the title contest, the Extreme got on the scoreboard in the first inning to take an early lead — just like in Lodi's 1-0 victory over Prairie Village on Wednesday. With one out, Jordynn Elwood reached base on a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Then Senecal smacked a base hit to score Elwood as Lodi went up 1-0.

After the first inning, goose eggs popped up on the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth. Tori Shepard started things off with a single and then Nikki Luiz came in as a courtesy runner for the Extreme ace. McCarty connected for a single to give Lodi runners at first and second with one of the team's best hitters coming to the plate in Betsy Colburn. Colburn, who came through in the clutch with two game-winning hits earlier in the tournament, got another hit to drive in Luiz and give the Extreme an insurance run.

"She was just phenomenal," Pfennig said of Colburn, who went 4-for-4 in the finale. "She was a big part of our lineup. After the two game-winning hits and then getting four hits today, she just played great."

Shepard, who started every game for Lodi, then struck out two Prairie Village batters in the top of the seventh before Senecal's catch. In seven games in the tournament, Shepard was lights out on the mound. The 16-year-old recorded seven wins, 93 strikeouts, only allowed four runs and tossed five shutouts. The 93 strikeouts bettered the World Series record she set last year with 89, although another pitcher reportedly became the new record holder by striking out over 100 batters in the tournament.

With Shepard shutting down opposing offenses, Lodi only needed small leads in most cases to beat teams. While the runs sometimes didn't come until the last inning at times, or even extra innings once, the Extreme hitters always found a way to produce.

"The whole week we were on top of our game and we were very confident. We all worked really hard," Colburn said. "We felt like we could go all the way, but all the teams here are really good. As it kept going, we just said, 'We are going to do this.'"

With each win, Lodi got more and more confident and everything began to fall in place.

"At the beginning of the week we had a lot of adrenaline and we then had close games and we just went inning by inning," McCarty said. "Once we got to the championship, we knew this was it and we gave it our best and never gave up."

After the game, the Extreme players were awarded their medals, championship plaque and trophy. During the awards ceremony, Colburn, McCarty and Shepard were named to the all-tournament team and Luci Martinez earned a spot on the all-defensive squad.

The celebration didn't stop at the awards ceremony; instead, the Extreme headed over to one of its generous host family's homes for a pizza party. The team will be leaving Massachusetts today, bringing a national championship — and all of the shiny hardware that goes along with it — back to Lodi.

"I am happy for the girls. They have worked hard and made a commitment to the Babe Ruth program in Lodi and BOBS (Booster of Boys and Girls Sports) and I can't say enough about that commitment," said Steve Brown, BOBS director who is traveling with the team. "It is pretty amazing to be World Series Champs. It is big. It is a lot bigger than people realize. It is a lot harder."